Northallerton was a parliamentary borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire, represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1640 to 1832, and by one member from 1832 until 1885.
The constituency consisted of the market town of Northallerton, the county town of the North Riding. In 1831 it encompassed only 622 houses and a population of 3,004. The right to vote was vested in the holders of the burgage tenements, of which there were roughly 200 – most of which were ruined or consisted only of stables or cowhouses, and had no value except for the vote which was attached to them. As in most other burgage boroughs, the ownership of the burgages had early become concentrated in the hands of a single family, who in effect had a free hand to nominate both MPs. At the time of the Great Reform Act in 1832, the patrons were the Earl of Harewood and Henry Peirse, who was the Earl's brother-in-law.
Under the Reform Act, the boundaries were extended to include neighbouring Romanby and Brompton, increasing the population to 4,839, and its representation was reduced to a single member. The Act also, of course, extended the franchise.
At the 1885 election, the constituency was abolished, being absorbed into the new Richmond division of the North Riding.
Members of Parliament
Northallerton re-enfranchised by Parliament, Nov 1640
MPs 1640–1832 ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party November 1640 Henry Darley Parliamentarian John Wastell Parliamentarian1653Northallerton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament 1654,1656Northallerton was unrepresented in the First and Second Parliaments of the ProtectorateJanuary 1659 James DanbyMajor George Smithson May 1659 Henry Darley One seat vacant April 1660Thomas LascellesFrancis Lascelles July 1660George MarwoodCreated a baronet as Sir George Marwood, December 1660 1661Gilbert GerardCreated a baronet as Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1665Roger Talbot 1679Sir Henry Calverley 1685Sir David FoulisSir Henry Marwood 1689Thomas LascellesSir William Robinson 1695Sir William Hustler 1697Ralph Milbancke 1701Robert Dormer February 1702Daniel Lascelles July 1702John AislabieTory November 1702Robert Dormer May 1705Sir William Hustler December 1705Roger Gale 1710Robert Raikes 1713Leonard SmeltHenry Peirse 1715Cholmley Turner 1722Henry Peirse 1740William Smelt 1745Henry Lascelles 1752Daniel Lascelles 1754 ToryEdwin LascellesTory 1761Edward LascellesTory 1774Henry Peirse (younger)Whig 1780Edwin LascellesTory 1790Edward LascellesTory 1796Viscount LascellesTory 1814John Bacon Sawrey MorrittTory 1818Viscount LascellesTory 1820William LascellesTory 1824Marcus BeresfordTory 1826Admiral Sir John BeresfordToryHenry LascellesTory 1831William Lascelles Tory
MPs 1832–1885
ElectionMemberParty1832 Representation reduced to one member1832 Capt. John Boss R.N. Radical1835 William Battie-Wrightson Whig1859 Liberal1865 Charles MillsMills' election was declared void on petition, and a by-election held in which he did not stand as a candidateConservative1866 Hon. Egremont Lascelles Conservative1868 John Hutton Conservative1874 George Elliot Conservative1885 Constituency abolished: see Richmond (Yorks)
Election results Elections in the 1830s
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
The election was declared void on petition, due to bribery by agents, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Notes and references
D Brunton & D H Pennington, "Members of the Long Parliament" (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) "Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803" (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) J Holladay Philbin, "Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales" (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) Henry Stooks Smith, "The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847" (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig – Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973) Frederic A Youngs, jr, "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II" (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991)